That’s that then, spring migration is pretty much over…
Very quiet today and the last few days. The above Latham’s Snipe was roadside just out of town.
That’s that then, spring migration is pretty much over…
Very quiet today and the last few days. The above Latham’s Snipe was roadside just out of town.
Another morning in the Mukawa area…and a very close Latham’s Snipe.
I was surprised how common Chestnut-eared Buntings were.
And this is a common species up there too.
We took a short 4-day trip around the Sapporo area earlier this week…
I got a half-lifer on the way up as we drove north at night. A Siberian Thrush singing. Unfortunately it was still pitch black so I couldn’t find it…so that will have to wait to make it onto my J-list.
We arrived in the Mukawa area in the early morning and the usual species were present.
Most interesting birds were a pair of Japanese Crane (presumably with chick) but they were impossible to photograph well due to them being in the long grass as well as the harsh summer light.
Some birds from town today…a grey, foggy,humid Sunday afternoon in mid June.
A wet miserable White-tailed Eagle on a wet miserable Saturday afternoon near Mukawa.
Lathams’s Snipe habitats have been damaged by the absurd number of solar farms spring up all the time and replacing grassland.
Plus they’re difficult to perch on…see how this one slid all the way down.
This perch the next morning was slightly better…
There were a couple of Turnstones mixed in with all the Grey-tailed Tattlers and Red-necked Stints. The former were very common up and down the coast.
Not really a shorebird but kind of…
Yesterday was a grey misty Sunday. The spring migration season has just about fizzled out: a bit of a quiet one this year.
Some muted birds on a somewhat muted day.
Other stuff around included Cattle Egret, Green Sandpiper, lots of Grey-tailed Tattlers, a small flock of Falcated Duck, Eastern Marsh Harrier and newly arrived Black-browed Reed Warblers.
We headed up to Shiretoko to try for Pine Grosbeaks at the top of the pass there. The weather was pretty nasty on the way…….here are 2 oft seen roadside birds on the way up there……….
And on the way north we came across some White-throated Needletails………..